MISSOURI, USA — Nearly 5,000 oil and gas wells across Missouri are polluting the state's air and water supplies, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Those wells will be assessed after the department announced it will be allocating nearly $5 million in federal funding to the state. The funding will be used to evaluate the thousands of wells and prioritize them for future plugging and remediation.
"These unprecedented resources to clean up hazardous polluted sites will create good-paying jobs, catalyze economic growth and revitalization, reduce harmful methane leaks – which is one of the major drivers of the climate crisis – and reduce environmental and public health risks to surface water and groundwater resources critical to U.S. communities and ecosystems," the department said in a press release.
The department said Missouri reported it had specifically 4,849 orphaned wells on state and private lands, many of which are in backyards, recreation areas, and community spaces across the state. Missouri's total contributes to the nation's more than 126,000 orphaned wells across the country, and between 310,000 to 800,000 undocumented wells.
Missouri previously told the department it would need more than $29 million in funding to clean up the wells. The state is also eligible to receive nearly $27 million in federal grant funds and has indicated it would use those resources to ultimately plug those wells, the department said.
“With today’s announcement, half of all U.S. states have received funding from the Biden-Harris administration to clean up legacy pollution, marking a significant milestone in our country’s efforts to restore the lands, waters, and communities scarred by past oil and gas extraction," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said.
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